A measure to reinstall funding for maintenance at national parks and other public lands has wide support in Congress. But despite hopes, it won’t cross the finish line before the country's 250th birthday.
Many parks are desperate for road repairs or campground upgrades. But annual budgets only cover so much, racking up a multi-billion-dollar backlog of “deferred maintenance.”
In 2020, Congress unlocked a big fix by passing the Great American Outdoors Act, which included the Legacy Restoration Fund: $1.9 billion annually over five years for roads, utilities and recreation-related infrastructure. The fund was financed by revenue from federal energy development.
“It's made a huge impact,” said Paul Coussan, the vice president of government relations at the National Park Foundation. “There are a lot of projects around the country that you could very easily argue, if not for the Great American Outdoors Act, would not have gotten done.”
Funds went to a $118 million bridge at Yellowstone National Park, employee housing at Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado, wastewater upgrades at Great Basin National Park in Nevada and hundreds of other projects.
Last year, lawmakers failed to renew the Legacy Restoration Fund, letting it expire. Planned projects are still moving forward, but new ones can't begin without reauthorization, Coussan said. Meanwhile, the National Park Service faces about $24 billion in deferred repairs.
But now there’s a big bipartisan push to revive the fund. Bills in both chambers have nearly 250 co-sponsors combined.
“I think there is a lot of momentum because it is the 250th,” said Coussan, “but this is a topic that folks on both sides of the aisle really care about. They really love their parks and they want to make sure that they succeed.”
House and Senate committees signed off on the reauthorization unanimously. President Trump reportedly wanted to sign it before July 4, but the Senate has already taken off for the holiday.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
